wisdom, knowledge, and the in between
by falling winter roses
Summary: hermione granger and passion for knowledge / oneshot for qlfc


**a/n: though it will be well over by the time i post this… happy easter! (note that Hermione using the Time-Turner to go to different places at the same times is how I interpreted the prompt for clones.)**

**.**

_**chaser 1, qlfc forum, puddlemere united**_

_**season seven, round two**_

_**main prompt:**_

**Write about a character(s) who has so many interests they want to pursue that they attempt to or successfully clone themselves.**

_**optional prompts:**_

**10\. (quote) "Knowledge is realising that the street is one-way; wisdom is looking both directions before crossing anyway."**

**14\. (emotion) regret**

**15\. (word) passion**

**word count: 1349**

**.**

There was just so much to _do. _There were five options: Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies. And supposedly, there was only time for three.

They all sounded interesting.

They all could affect her future.

Hermione Granger was a muggleborn. She knew that fact well enough, and she knew exactly how much it could impact her future—her career, her credentials, her everything. Not taking an essential class and getting good grades in it… it could destroy her future.

There were so many different pathways, so many different opportunities… and she wanted them all. She _needed_ them all. She couldn't regret not taking some class such as Ancient Runes five years into the future when she realizes that she wants to be a runologist and can't be. She wouldn't have her job application get handed back to her by some stern-looking officer ten years into the future because she wasn't qualified enough.

And besides, the thirst for knowledge gnawed at her with every breath. She wanted to know how to see the future through both numbers and prophecy. She wanted to be able to read and translate runes, reading the past while unfogging the future.

"It could affect our whole future," she told Harry and Ron one night in the library as they choose subjects. Harry and Ron chose the two subjects that most say are the easiest: Care of Magical Creatures and Divination.

Hermione chose them all.

* * *

Professor McGonagall requested Hermione's presence in her office near the end of the school year. Hermione went down to her office with a great deal of anxiety, knowing that she had broken the rules when she'd chosen five classes instead of two or three. She prayed to Merlin that she wouldn't be forced to drop any.

"You want to take five classes, and there is only time for three on your schedule," she said briskly. The door closed behind Hermione as she sits down. "I understand your thirst for knowledge and I would enjoy to see it fulfilled. There is a solution to this problem, if you would agree.

"I am not sure if the Ministry will grant the request, but I think that a way that you could solve the problem of not having enough time was to make more time using a Time-Turner." She pauses. "Do you know what those are?"

Hermione's heart skipped a beat. "Yes."

"Good. You will be required not to speak to anyone of this, except perhaps your parents, and this even if you are allowed to access a Turner. I will be required to send several letters to the Ministry. If they agree, I will give you the Time-Turner on the first day of term of third year. If they do not, you will be forced to drop two or more of the classes that you chose." Her eyes softened slightly. "I will do my best to make sure that you will be able to pursue your interests, Miss Granger."

"Thank you," Hermione answered, trying to convey the sheer amount of gratitude she felt towards the professor with a mere two words.

Professor McGonagall nodded, smiling, and Hermione knew she had gotten the message.

* * *

True to her word, Hermione did not tell anyone of the exciting prospect of using a Time-Turner, not even Harry and Ron.

Professor McGonagall sent her a letter in mid-August informing her of the fact that the Ministry had agreed to their request and outlining the rules she was to follow while using the Turner. Hermione was told to tell her parents and no one else.

Hermione tried to tell her parents the fact that she was going to be using a time-traveling device next year in a casual tone, but she failed miserably. Her mother seemed not too worried about the prospect, but her father seemed extremely confused and worried. He kept asking questions about how it would work, and how it might affect her body, and so on and so forth.

"It's like cloning," he said.

Hermione thought about this in the following days, and thought that he might be right. It was sort of like cloning. She was going back through time so she could learn multiple things at the same time and do several things at once.

But the pursuit of knowledge had always been important to Hermione, at any cost it might bring. It was her passion. It was her world. This was what was most important.

Besides, it wasn't as if the Time-Turner would send her back centuries and kill her. No Time-Turner could ever be _that_ powerful.

* * *

Hermione bit her lower lip as she stared at her schedule, discreetly hiding it from the prying gazes of Ron and Harry. They would ask questions about her jumbled schedule, for sure.

Hermione sighed, wondering how she'd ever manage the sheer amount of work from every single class.

She shook her head.

She could do it. She would be able to do it.

She has to be able to do it.

Professor McGonagall had gotten her the Time-Turner so she could pursue her interests, so she could pursue more knowledge.

Her dear Head of House had worked so hard… she couldn't throw that away.

* * *

Hermione began to take on a tired manner. The extra hour or two added on to her day made her days seem longer and made her more tired when she finally went to bed after a long night of finishing homework. Near the time of finals, she had to restrain herself from going back in time simply to have more time to study and _sleep._

Oh, sweet, _sweet_ sleep.

But she had to make good grades in her classes.

Outstanding after Outstanding came her way. Her grades went up.

But everything else was going down.

She felt torn apart from Ron and Harry. She never seemed to spend time with them anymore. She was struggling to keep up, and felt constantly close to tears. She knew that the others noticed, but pushed them away. She often caught herself regretting her decision to take all the classes.

But she caught herself, and pushed the thought away.

How ungrateful she was being!

Professor McGonagall had noticed Hermione's tired manner. The aging woman called her to her office a few days before Easter.

"I'm worried that you are straining yourself, Miss Granger," she said.

Hermione dutifully shook her head, all the while cringing inwardly at the dark circles she knew were under her eyes.

"I'm managing, Professor," she said with a small smile.

"No, you're not, and I think you would do well to drop a class."

Hermione felt shocked at the suggestion.

Professor McGonagall of all people!

"I can't afford to," she replied simply.

"You could drop Divination," McGonagall said. "It truly isn't all that helpful for gaining of knowledge. True, taught by a good teacher it might be, but Sybil Trelawney is an overdramatic fraud that you would not do well to learn under. As Dumbledore says, 'Knowledge is realising that the street is one-way; wisdom is looking both directions before crossing anyway.' You shouldn't strain yourself. Knowledge is important, Miss Granger, but you should also be _wise_. Drop a class. You are taking on too much."

So Hermione decided to drop Divination.

Even though, she was still taking more classes than anyone else. More and more she regretted her decision, and she often contemplated the idea of dropping Muggle Studies (which was severely outdated).

But she didn't until much later.

In the end, it seemed that this was all a thing not to be regretted too much. At the end of the year, Harry's yearly adventures came back again, and Hermione's Time-Turner proved essential to surviving. She even found that the Turner had saved Harry's life, or at the very least his soul.

So it seemed that her decision was not to be too regretted after all, and in fourth year, she dropped Muggle Studies and went back to her true self.

Her passion for knowledge was important, she discovered in third year.

But Hermione was more important.


End file.
